Combined pencil case and pointer



April 28, 1953' A. e. MILHAVET COMBINED PENCIL -OASE AND POINTER Filed July 24, 1950 Patented Apr. 28, 1953 COMBINED PENCIL CASE AND POINTER Andr Georges Milhavet, Bonneuil-sur-Marne, France Application July 24, 1950, Serial No. 17 5,626 In France July 29, 1949 3 Claims.

Pencil cases are known the head of which is designed to receive a removable pointer by the rotation of which the pencil can be sharpened.

In pencil-cases of that kind the pencil is so mounted that it can be moved axially. Generally, such a translatory displacement is obtained by the rotation of a tail thumb piece rigid with a Worm spindle which cooperates in screw-and-nut fashion with a certain number of turns of a coil spring which is fitted at its opposite end with the pencil. The free turns of said coil spring enable the pencil to move axially within certain limits even if no action is exerted upon the control worm spindle.

The adjustment of such a pencil case for use is rather elaborate since it involves the following steps: pushing the pencil outwards until the end of the same is home in the'pointer; winding same once or twice so as to sharpen the pencil; removing the pointer and finally adjustin the position of the pencil with respect to the case barrel in such a manner that only the very tip of the pencil shall project beyond the end of the case ioi' want of which, on account of its overhang, it would rattle and make the pencil case quite inconvenient in use.

A further serious inconvenience of such an arrangement is that the pencil is only guided in its cylindrical portion, and this, in no reliable manner since a certain clearance between the case proper and the pencil is necessary to allow the latter to slide unhampered, so that practically rattling of the pencil cannot be avoided completely.

These inconveniences are done away with in the combined pencil-case and pointer according to this invention. Here, the pencil is guided within the case barrel not only in its cylindrical portion but also in its conical portion which provides the point of the pencil. This result is secured by the fact that the pencil point is permanently pressed home by a spring within an idle cylindroconical sleeve. The said sleeve provides a rest for both the cylindrical and the conical portions of the pencil and has its front end castellated, by which is meant that said end is formed with sector-like notches alternatin with sectorlike solid portions corresponding respectively with sector-like sharp-edged solid portions alternating with sector-like notches formed in the pointer. In the pencil sharpening position of the pointer the serrations of the same interengage with those of the cylindroconical sleeve, with the result that the latter partakes of the rotation of the former and that the pencil remains guided even in the course of the pointing step. Besides, it will be appreciated that the pencil case does not involve any means to adjust the position of the pencil since the latter is at all times maintained in an immutable position which is the one in which it is ready for use,

The combined pencil-case and pointer accord ing to this invention is represented by way of example in the drawings appended hereto.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the pencil-case.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional View taken on line AA in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fractional side eleva tional view of the pencil case with the pencil pointer removed.

Figure 4 is an end view corresponding to Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a further end view with the'pointer in position.

The pencil case proper I is closed by means of a screw plug 2. The pencil is rooted in a polygonal claw socket 4 slidably received yet not rotatable in a correspondingly shaped guideway 5. Interposed between the screw plug 2 and the slidable socket 4 is a coil spring 6.

The pencil 3, owing to the action of said spring 6, is pressed in and stopped by a cylindroconical freely rotatable sleeve 1. The outer end of said sleeve is castellated, being formed with sector-like notches (three of them as shown) alternating with similarly shaped solid portions 8. It will be seen notably by considering Fig. 1 that the pencil is guided by the sleeve 1 not only in its cylindrical portion but also at the conical tip 9 of it. The pointer I0 is likewise castellated, being formed with a corresponding number of integral sectors H with a cutting side edge; the said sectors Ii interlock with the sectors 3 on the cylindrical sleeve 1; a small braking ring spring i2 is interposed between the pointer Iii-4 l and the pencilcase barrel I. Moreover, the pencil case is provided with a removable cap I3 fitted on the pointer Ill-ll and adapted to collect the shavings. Advantageously, a brake (not shown) of any known type is interposed between said cap and the pointer to provide for a light drive fit therebetween.

As the said pointer is wound together with the sleeve 1 the pencil (which is retained against rotation) is sharpened by the action of the cutting edges of the pointer. Upon the completion of the pencil-sharpening action the cap is' removed together with the pointer, the pencil case then being ready for use without any further adjustment.

It is to be understood that the device described hereinbeiore lends itself to many modifications provided the leading features of the invention are retained, notably in the matter of the number and arrangement of the sectors on both the cylindroconical sleeve and the pointer, of the material the various parts of this pencil-case are made and the methods by which they are manufactored, and that it is applicable to every kind of blacklead or colored or painting pencils.

What I claim is:

1. In a pencil case provided with a pointer mounted in a removable cap, a barrel having a guideway arranged therein, a coil spring within the barrel, a slidable and non-rotatable support in the guideway for holding a pencil having a cylindrical body and a conical tip, said spring urging said support and pencil toward the outer end of the barrel, a cylindro-conical sleeve at the outer end of the barrel freely rotatably mounted both around the pencil and in the barrel, said sleeve closely surrounding the pencil both ahead of and behind the plane of separation between the cylindrical and conical portions of the pencil and sector-like notches provided on the conical portion of said sleeve.

2. In a writing implement case of the type including a removable cap embodying a sharpening means and housing a cylindro-conical writing implement, a hollow barrel having an interna1 guide therein and an open outer end, a spring within the barrel, an implement receiving support mounted in the guide for axial sliding movement with respect thereto, said guide preventing rotation of said support and said spring urging the support and an implement carried thereby toward the outer end of the barrel, a eylindro-conical sleeve freely rotatably mounted at the outer end of a barrel, means preventing axial movement of the sleeve, at least a portion of the sleeve protruding from said barrel, said sleeve closely surrounding the implement both ahead of and behind the plane of separation between the cylindrical and conical portions of the implement, the conical portion only of said sleeve having sector-like notches therein along the axial extent of said portion, similarly shaped sharpening means on the cap accommodated by the notches so that the 4 entire conical portion of the implement can be sharpened while the sleeve securely maintains the same in centered position and said sleeve likewise limiting outward protrusion of the implement, and the cooperation between the spring and the sleeve firmly holding the implement.

3. In a writing implement case, a hollow barrel havin a series of successive portions of respectively reduced internal diameters, the, smallest diameter being adjacent the outer end of the barrel and an inturned flange at the outer end of the barrel, the portion of intermediate diameter having guide means associated therewith and resilient means accommodated in the other portion of the barrel, an implement receiving support slidably mounted in the guide means of the said intermediate portion for longitudinal movement with respect to the barrel, said resilient means urging said support toward the outer end of the barrel, an implement carried by the support and having a cylindrical body and a conical tip, a cylindro-conical sleeve mounted in the portion of the barrel of reduced diameter and including a stepped external surface cooperating with the fian e preventing axial movement of the sleeve outwardly of the barrel, said sleeve having internal surfaces closely surrounding at least a portion of the cylindrical body of the pencil and at least a portion of the conical tip, that portion of the sleeve constituting the conical portion having a series of sector-like notches therein along the entire length thereof.

ANDRE GEORGES MILHAVET.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 527,803 McCollum Oct. 23, 1894 1,861,468 Bafetti June 7', 1932 2,519,625 Becker Aug. 22, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 12,091 Great Britain July 27, 1911 361,246 Germany Oct. 12, 1922 

